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Jonestown council hears concerns on stormwater system

By BOB SWANSON

For The Lebanon Daily News

Updated:
10/25/2012 11:37:10 PM EDT

JONESTOWN - With the threat of another autumn tropical storm bearing down on the region, Borough Council once again took up the issue of stormwater Thursday night at a public hearing at the Jonestown United Methodist Church.

About 40 borough residents who were impacted by Tropical Storm Lee in September 2011 heard the borough's rationale for the stormwater system and consequent user fees for property owners that was proposed earlier this year.

Council chairman Dennis Houser shared with residents that while nothing is set in stone, the council plans to vote on the development of a stormwater system in December that will cost the borough as much as $64,000 per year to maintain and will include a user fee for all property owners within the borough.

Borough engineer Erik Harmon of Light-Heigel & Associates told residents that improvements in the borough's infrastructure are necessary to manage stormwater runoff and to meet growing regulations related to pollutants. Harmon acknowledged that many of the state and federal mandates the borough is attempting to comply with are unfunded mandates.

As a consequence, Harmon said, "Council has decided that a stormwater utility is the fairest way."

Presently, funds for repairing and maintaining the stormwater system come from the borough's general fund. Council has decided that funding this is no longer feasible.

If the measure passes, the borough would join more than 2,000 municipalities nationwide that have adopted user fees to cover the costs and maintenance of stormwater systems.

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The draft rates for residential property owners would be $80 per year under the proposal. A rate structure would determine the annual rates for nonresidential property owners. Harmon told residents the proposed rate structure is based upon the square footage of impervious surfaces on the property such as pavement and building structures. Impervious surfaces dictate the user rates because they are a leading contributor to stormwater runoff, according to Harmon.

Harmon told residents that credits would be available to residents who take steps to reduce stormwater runoff. Credits would include the use of rain barrels, soil and ground cover, and other storm water controls.

Some residents questioned borough officials as to why required funding from residents is being labeled a fee as opposed to a tax. Harmon explained that tax-exempt entities within the borough that would potentially be exempt from a borough tax maintain 48 percent of the impervious surfaces within the borough.

Many residents of the Twin Creeks development stated their opposition to the proposed system, claiming they already paid for a system within their development that was not paid for through public funds.

Councilman Joel Lehman, who lives in the Twin Creeks development, has been an opponent of the proposed system from the beginning.

"I've already paid for my stormwater system. Now I'm being asked to pay for someone else's," he said.

Stephanie Harmon of the Lebanon County Conservation District, also a Twin Creeks resident, replied to the Twin Creeks residents' concerns in saying, "Twin Creeks put in a lot of infrastructure that the borough now has to maintain."

Other residents living outside of the Twin Creeks development claimed that Twin Creeks is part of the problem, pointing out that they never had water problems on their property until the development of Twin Creeks.

Several residents voiced concerns over the validity of the council's claims that state and federal mandates are driving the improvements.

"We are not mandated to build specific projects," said Mayor Tyler Longenecker. "We are taking a proactive approach because we don't feel regulations are going to get any lighter. We believe they will get more stringent. A lot of communities will get bogged down on this issue by not being proactive."

"Could the federal government stop caring about stormwater? Yes, but we need to consider what is right for Jonestown. We feel this is the best thing for Jonestown," added Longenecker.

He said that a number of improvements have been passed over in the borough because of the ongoing stormwater issue.

Drew Shimco expressed concern over the prioritization of improvements in the borough. He told residents that he was experiencing significant stormwater runoff on his property that was washing debris onto his property. Citing concerns about the safety and health of his family, he addressed the issue with council earlier this year but was told there were no funds to make improvements.

Lehman agreed with Shimco's assessment. "When George (Kaufman) was the mayor, and he had water spilling over his driveway, we spent $12,000," said Lehman. "When Mr. Shimco came to us, we didn't have the money to fix it."

Renee Lehman threatened to file a Right to Know request to identify the council's prioritization of improvement projects.

Other residents expressed concerns over the costs of the overall project.

Dawn Sellers expressed concerns about the scope of the project when the borough is already $40,000 in debt. "I don't run my budget that way, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone," said Sellers.

Longenecker told residents the borough is seeking grants to cover the cost of infrastructure improvements and to keep costs to property owners at a minimum. He pointed out that he has secured two green project grants over the past two years. Longenecker hopes the fees will not be permanent.

"We know once a fee is in place, it will never be reduced," added Sellers.